You're not collecting the rent, but still have all the expenses (well, hopefully you don't have to evict yourself, I wouldn't make any bets about your friends)You will never be able to get a loan in an entity without a personal guarantee.

Getting investor loans done with conventional lenders is tough and will get tougher.Local indy banks as you say are a great alternative. they are called portfolio lenders and they can help because they do not sell their loans to Freddie and Fannie.These small banks and credit unions don't work with brokers so brokers are not your best bet here.If you go to my blog (in my sig) there's a link there to my Portfolio Loan Blueprint that will help.

I seriously doubt with every bone in my body we need to be stocking up on guns, ammo, food, safes...etc.It's almost laughableI'll bet they thought it was laughable just before every other catastrophe in history.

Your best bet, if you can find a lender, is to do a straightforward refi and pay your friend off as part of that transaction.

I bet that second would take $1500, and the first would take a whole lot less than $700k.

Your best bet may be small neighborhood banks.

I bet Vegas is full of real estate opportunity.

Standing here in TX, it certainly appears that rents shouldn't drop in your area, but that doesn't help you much.I'm betting that:a) Your area is being flooded with sfh'sb) Your area is being flooded with an equal number of new renters who can't qualify to buy again soc) Rental rates shouldn't be affected *too* much On the surface, it seems that equilibrium should be maintained.

I'd like to move to Santa Cruz James, I bet Tim thinks you and I should get together and eat some pot brownies.

Your best bet to avoid procuring cause disputes is to be upfront and say you are working with another agent.